Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains How Many Stars You Can See In the Night Sky

How many stars can you see in the night sky with your naked eye? A million? A Billion? As Carl Sagan liked to say, “Billions and billions?” On this StarTalk explainer video, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice are investigating how many stars you can really see.
Neil explains why the number of stars you can see might be drastically lower than you think. Find out why the Moon poses a problem for seeing stars. Neil tells us how a full Moon can wash out a good amount of visible stars. Find out more about “dark time” and “bright time” when using telescopes.
We discuss how binoculars can help you see a lot more stars. We dive into the evolutionary history of our eyesight. Also, Neil gives us a way to use your fist to calculate how many stars you can see in the sky. Lastly, discover more about how Andromeda went from being what we thought was a simple nebula to an entire other galaxy.
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About the prints that flank Neil in this video:
"Black Swan” & "White Swan" limited edition serigraph prints by Coast Salish artist Jane Kwatleematt Marston. For more information about this artist and her work, visit Inuit Gallery of Vancouver inuit.com/.
About StarTalk:
Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!
#StarTalk #NeildeGrasseTyson

[@TSMM-xd2yn]

It's great to see how Chuck's involvement has increased over the course of these videos from someone just asking questions to an interested and knowledgeable participant. Chuck and Neil have a very nice on-screen rapport. My favorite KZbin video series ever!

[@mkevilempire]

I really enjoy the whole format of scientific topic mixed with comedic input. All co-hosts I've seen were great, but Chuck and Neil just have a vibe like no other combination, frequently make me smile. Or 'Chuck'le...

[@applicableapple3991]

I like how Neil actually makes Chuck ask the questions

[@gdavies4]

10:02 Chuck's like does he really want me to ask him that...

[@99guspuppet8]

like a ventriloquist

[@otakuman706]

Seeing everything is one thing I miss about living in the middle of the New Mexico desert. About an hour away from the nearest city, which had less light pollution than many to start. In the winter (but not frigid temps) I would go out and lay on a trampoline with a blanket, pillow, and supplies, and just stargaze for hours. You could see an absolutely stunning sky, surrounded by nature. Hearing coyotes and other animals running around, while seeing tons of stars, and some of the milky-way, was absolutely beautiful and awe inspiring.

[@ManicYouniverse]

You have NO idea how much I envy you! Greetings from southern, polluted Poland! ;)

[@ronfullerton3162]

When young, I loved to plow the fields for Dad on the farm at night in the fall or spring. Light pollution was almost non-existent back then in rural Iowa in the 1960's. It was a wonderful and restful ending of the day viewing the beautiful sky. Everyone should get the chance to see the beauty of the night sky at least once in their life. It is so overwhelming.

[@constancemiller3753]

Neil's fist measurement was✊nerdy but Chuck ( and most of us) are with you on stargazing in New Mexico. 👍

[@edmiera3583]

I envy you because when I was young in the 60's I would lay out on the lawn listen to am stations from Texas and gaze at the stars your post brings back memories do I need to move to New Mexico to see these sites again? I live in Colorado and we don't see the stars like that anymore

[@steeniversen971]

and supplies🤣🤣🤣

[@davidrobine5350]

The thing I like about looking at The Andromeda Galaxy is that the light from it that we see left there before we were even human. That’s awesome to me.

[@MattH-wg7ou]

Right!? It's so cool to me to look at it and realize that light has been traveling for 2.5 million years, just to be intercepted by my retina. And to realize that that's the direction our galaxy is traveling, Milky Way and Andromeda are heading torwards each other. If you ever have the chance to look at it through IR NVGs you should. Its a lot bigger.

[@mattyice535]

It really is amazing to think about

[@costco_pizza]

@@MattH-wg7ou What is so sad is that what we are seeing likely isn't even there anymore. We will have to wait 2.5 million years to see what it is today. :(

[@calebjaymes9710]

Nice profile picture lol

[@conorhaynes-mannering5094]

@@costco_pizza at which point we will be 2.5 million years ahead wondering the same thing hahaa

[@rysacroft]

Until today I had never seen StarTalk. Wow! Educational and humorous in one package, these guys are a hoot. Subbed now.

[@BlairCoron]

I fear as a whole we are losing our connection with the night sky and it is bearing such negative consequences upon us. If more of us tried witness the stars a little more regularly we would bathe in their cosmic perspective and literally shine a light upon how trivial many of our daily problems are. Thanks Startalk for existing and also being the voice of reason during these hard times.

[@me_and_me_]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGO3gKOqhdaan9U

[@zanb35]

Humans just can't imagine how big the Universe is and how small we are compared to it all. If they would just imagine the size of just Jupiter itself maybe they would put it all into perspective on how big Galaxies are light years across. Maybe they would appreciate the little things more and this world would be a better place right now.

[@MaxHohenstaufen]

That ship has sailed long ago. Since artificial light was put in the streets we have lost our ability to actually see the night sky. Humans used to go to sleep not much longer after sunset. Now we spend a lot of hours active during the night. Our cicle has changed.

[@martinhrubjak9625]

I do watch stars on my balcony during clear nights cuz even tho I live in village, my balcony is away from any light source

[@vetiverose128]

Totally. My city has high levels of light pollution. I can only spot a few handful of stars (less than 10) on a clear night. It's quite tragic.

[@tekkalirahul669]

He is one of the most interesting yet inspiring person..

[@peewee130946]

Except he ruins everything lol you can’t enjoy any white lies without him bursting your bubble

[@FWtravels]

I agree! Chuck really is great!

[@me_and_me_]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGO3gKOqhdaan9U

[@EvenTheDogAgrees]

Interesting... _Yet,_ inspiring? Because... The two are usually mutually exclusive? :')

[@montuedge]

Yes indeed

[@ForestPantherGod]

"Yeah....I'm not going to do that." LOL, I kinda felt the same way, Chuck.

[@ianyboo]

Yeah I about spit out my drink at that line. Perfectly timed

[@krisbrixon]

Yeah, but Chuck Nice is getting way smarter about this stuff than the rest of us. Give him a month or so, he will geek out too.

[@me_and_me_]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGO3gKOqhdaan9U

[@andrewolson5471]

Chuck is refusing to fist the sky.

[@envenenadocalculandosemsab5011]

I really do appreciate your work here... Thank you for your time sharing !

[@spaceman5089]

Question: How many stars can you see in the night sky? Tyson: The sky is the limit

[@masternobody1896]

tech is about to go crazy

[@r4a2g0]

Ba dum tiss 🥁

[@spaceman5089]

Richy-J but does the sky we see NOT limit how many stars you CAN see? To say 3,000 -6,000 stars?lol..

[@me_and_me_]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGO3gKOqhdaan9U

[@Stuit3rb4l]

Your eye is the limit...

[@AJD...]

Love how easily Neil plays with Chuck.

[@IchigoKurosakicool]

for me it's actually less than 10 given the light pollution, and 4 OF THEM ARE PLANETS

[@jamiehoover33]

Poor city folk

[@jaroslawradecki7166]

Wait, are there stars outside of the basement?

[@IchigoKurosakicool]

@@jaroslawradecki7166 don't know man, we dont have one

[@jaroslawradecki7166]

@@IchigoKurosakicool What do you mean? You don't have an outside basement?

[@IchigoKurosakicool]

@@jaroslawradecki7166 uh no, i live in a military station and we have government provided storage and parking, we don't have that.

[@kymmzej9173]

When you, a nerd, tell a "Nerd joke" to one of your non-nerd friends. 5:56

[@me_and_me_]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGO3gKOqhdaan9U

[@_The_Dumbass_]

0:28 would also work

[@Jay-om8gr]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@TheMarcQ]

@@me_and_me_ nice

[@kmb_jr]

.. And again at 9:59 😂🤣😂🤣😂

[@flexable9256]

Full Moon screws the night stars. I know worse than that: The Sun.

[@tanadarko6991]

It's always the sun's fault - because that's what's lightin' up the full moon!

[@freeforall825]

I love this conversation because it makes people think. We don't have enough of that today. Do things that make you ask questions. No one is a know it all.

[@MrZenmancer]

Forget binos, I use to stare at the sky with Night Vision Goggles while I was in the Army. The number of stars you can see is amazing when you can also see in infrared.

[@misterx168]

This is awesome i was just about to download as a podcast one of your old videos and suddenly this ;D

[@OCGGVENOM]

I'm an amateur amateur astronomer and the moon being out is great to help locate constellations using an app in the city. But drive out to Joshua Tree Park in California during a new moon and the sky is breathtaking with the amount of stars that are visible. Get a pair of binoculars and the amount of stars becomes astronomical.

[@prunesquallor3444]

When New York had a famous blackout back when, people flooded emergency switchboards wondering what the bright smudge in the sky was. They had never seen the Milky Way before.

[@AB-ee5tb]

Really?

[@jsmithers.]

@@AB-ee5tb No.

[@akzymator6932]

Everytime I watch him.......he just blows mah mind ......

[@waynejackson1426]

Yeah! Is there anything that he doesn't know? My goodness!

[@bubbles25403]

As always my mind as been blown. Thank you Neil. Till next time.

[@technician0096]

I live in Newfoundland, not long ago the sky was so clear I was actually able to see the Milky Way galaxy. It was soooo cool. Happens once in town away from heavy lights... and another 2 times further in land and away from the main city

[@joesikic6531]

The most amazing night skies I've been lucky enough to have seen are in Africa (Hwange national park?), Rocky mountains Colorado and near Uluru (Ayers rock). Absolutely amazing. Would be nice if we had less light and particulate pollution everywhere

[@Sheena-op1rg]

I could listen to Neil all day! ❤️

[@me_and_me_]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGO3gKOqhdaan9U

[@Sheena-op1rg]

me and me well that escalated quickly

[@hermanwhite7518]

Me too very soothing and relaxing vocals If he can read me a book every night i can do away with my 60inch lol ..

[@The268170]

Now I wanna go out and get me a pair of them "Honkerin' Binoculars". xD

[@marcusanderson8180]

Another awesome video. How to measure the stars we see at night! You make science so cool.

[@jimmymonztarella8562]

Stargazing is my absolute favorite hobby!! Thanks for the binocular tip gotta get myself a pair.

[@mags102755]

I'm with Chuck, I don't have the math skills. However, I love learning, as I am a learning professional. So thanks Neil!

[@johncarnett2668]

Love Star Talk! Keep it up you awesome Astrological man!

[@m2pmd70]

Careful not to confuse astronomy and astrology. One is science and one is make believe. :)

[@elck3]

Keep looking up!!!

[@tnogl4678]

I found this amazing channel through Film Theory, thank u !!

[@mematron]

The best kind of explainer video without cheesy motion graphics

[@xBrandon18786x]

I just gotta say. I love these guys! Teach me more. Plz

[@husseysa6482]

Loving Dr. Tyson ❤️

[@alvkarthik2018]

That first math was so interesting. I mean a simple concept can count 3000 ✳️

[@njrivetelite]

I was gonna say.. you can see Andromeda so you can see more than 3000 stars.. But Neil beat me to it.

[@Nottsboy24]

I love studying stars 🙌 great upload guys 👌🎓👓🔭

[@viralmath]

fantastic! Thank you Dr. Tyson and Chuck

[@mattjenkins7216]

Great subject!

[@factsbro6634]

So insightful ❣❣❣

[@mitchwilson1969]

Chuck: I'm telling you that I'm not going to do that. (12:08) Me: I'm definitely doing that tonight.

[@NewandFreeMe]

Can you please share your thoughts on the event that will take place on Dec 21st-25th?

[@dorothyedwards7225]

This was cool, fun, amazing, and educational!! Tahbk you Neil and Chuck!!!!

[@JesusMendoza-fy6xf]

Awesome As ALWAYS

[@me_and_me_]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGO3gKOqhdaan9U

[@jerrodbridgeforth4201]

Another great segment

[@DedicatedSlaya]

The Full Moon reminds me of Stewart from 'Madd TV', "Look What I Can Do!!!" (blocks all the Stars) 🤣

[@essahsaeidi5543]

l've the show love the hosts, but ALSO I really love the theme song at the end and beginning, proper respect to the music its awesome!!

[@gatoreight]

This is just amazing

[@vimalramachandran]

Andromeda Galaxy never ceases to amaze. How many civilizations could be there in it?

[@NanocDark99]

Could be? You mean ARE there!

[@vimalramachandran]

@@NanocDark99 We don't even know of a single other civilization in our own galaxy, let alone a different galaxy. So I didn't want to sound certain about it.

[@NanocDark99]

@@vimalramachandran Because our "eyes" and technology are to bad/small/young. We are barely able to see outside of our solar system with our technology so... we just started finding exoplanets. Wait a few years or month more. There will be found life in the milkyway soon. There IS life! We are no gods. We are just a bit seldom but not to seldom.

[@TheChesireKat]

i so love neil......... i’ve grown up being educated by him. 💜

[@edwardcarloni6356]

Hey Neil love the show. When I was a kid in Brooklyn I loved to go to the school library and read the astronomy books by ''Gallent and Hess'' I found them fascinating, did you ever read them. Most of the info was wrong but it did spark my love of space ect. Keep looking Up.

[@jimpartridge9634]

Mars was amazing on 10/2/2020 here in Iowa. The moon was orange with harvest dust and Mars was big and bright night next to it at about 7:30pm. Roughly the same color. So cool.

[@josephmiller1576]

My favorite pod cast. . . Love you guys

[@fergusrb]

My question is how do you determine how far way a planet or star is? I understand that a planet that is 10 light years away is it took ten years at the speed of light for that planets light to get here. How do you know that the light left the planet 10 years go or a million years ago if it was one million light years away? Bruce from the City of Orange in Orange County California

[@robgatdula8086]

@neildegrasse tyson, I have a general knowledge question for you. It is a loooong question how can I message you directly? Or email etc

[@NoodleMcnoodle]

It's a clear night in Los Angeles tonight. I count 25 stars. Make that 21 stars and 4 planets.

[@isaacraid9975]

living in Minnesota country, the clear night is fascinating it really seems like more than than 3,000. I feel bad for you with all that light pollution.

[@chrism3784]

I went to big island hawaii last summer to check out a few sites like the volcano that just started erupting when I arrived. Also some of the beaches. Most important thing I wanted to see and do was the Mauna Kea tour. I purposely booked a flight and made reservations when the moon would not be out in evening/nightime hours. I went when the moon was in last quarter and wouldn't be seen till after midnight when the star tour was over. It was an amazing experience. I saw Alpha Centari and southern cross for the first time being so far south in latitude

[@keithmcauslan943]

Sir, I have watched many of the Star talk series episodes for a few seasons now. But every time I hear we can see back in time by watching distant galaxies. I wonder can we see our selves in the night sky? The milky way has had at least one other collision if I recall correctly. could we have approached from an angle the is perpendicualar to our current position so we can see our younger milky way prior to that collision. Logically I think that, physically we are not moving near the speed of light so the early galaxy light has been here and gone already... But I could be wrong. Could we see an early state of the Milky Way if the collision was just right?

[@Starfals]

Love the ending, it made the video go full circle :D We started from a Billion stars, went back down to a few hundred then all the way back to Billion ( thanks Andromeda

[@paulcombs-bomuse6172]

Neil, I think I have said this before, but I am so grateful to your mom and dad for bringing you into this life.

[@mainmrawesome4511]

I just hopped on and saw you guys posted this 1 minute ago 😳

[@jadanabil8044]

This Neil guy doesn't want to waste even a second.

[@Conosis]

I just love these vids so much ;-;

[@vitruvyan3033]

I love you, StarTalk family!

[@hermanwhite7518]

I love Neil..when he said you look up and only see 3000 stars in the night sky with the human eye..then switch to 6000 lol made Chuck 😂

[@peterstanghellini393]

The most stars I saw was in the desert. A couple times I was in California. I think once was vicinity 29 Palms. The sky was filled with stars. It was quite impressive. Saw a number of streaking flashes (shooting stars). Not sure if those were satellites or meteor shower. Pretty good show

[@ernestobrazilian]

That show is so awesome. Laugh and learn as if you are chatting with your best friends.

[@Spyros.ts13]

dear Doctor Tyson, which is the episode of Cosmos with the evolution of the eye?

[@nath844]

The blank face Chuck makes when Tyson is explaining how to calculate the square patches is the face I've made in every math class ever.

[@Brownkidc]

I’m 28 years old. Served in 2 wars across 2 different continents and I’m out of the military now but planning on going to school for a degree in physics because you’ve inspired me. What are some pointers/tips you can throw my direction?

[@JohnFleshman]

Come visit Tonopah Nevada. Tiny town a mile above sea level in the Nevada desert. Absolutely great night sky viewing during a new moon!

[@Chris-hx3om]

2:30 "the moon has light, reflected form the sun. Thousands of years ago people thought the moon had it's own light." Check out some of the flat earth videos. I think you'd be surprised.

[@jasonantigua6825]

I’ve seen stuff on it! It’s crazy

[@me_and_me_]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGO3gKOqhdaan9U

[@user-zw3yw8be5x]

The moon has no light of its own, because it's just cheese. 🧀😜

[@ohihassan693]

Some people actually knew that moon doesn't have its own light and the light we see from it is actually the reflected light from sun, more then 1400 years ago.

[@m2pmd70]

Have you seen them claim that the moon makes "cold light?" Yeesh.

[@partof2559]

Love it. short and sweet.

[@randomhobbies5796]

Amazing how much we all can learn when the info is being transferred to us in a fun way.. If schools were this way when I was a young lad I could've been a genius

[@missleo281]

Thank you professor

[@katyhiatt3608]

My mind is blown. I have been looking at that fuzzy spot for a long time and now boomI know what it is. This is amazing. Of course I had to grab the binoculars and go outside. For stargazing.❤ thank you so much.

[@bartmacaluso]

Something I have noticed is that the front part of my eye cannot detect as well as the "side" part of my eye perhaps because of ordinary damage and that light gets into my eye better on the "side" of my eye because its like spotting a spectral ghost... That I know I saw something and when I go to look at what I thought I saw from the side of my eye with direct sighting, the thing is there it is just faint ...

[@truthreat5098]

Love this Neil

[@sarahjpk]

Can't wait to watch this tonight :) ☆☆☆☆☆

[@cececooke7684]

I was on a ferry heading to Fraser Island in Australia when I saw the Milky Way. It was amazing for me since I live in South Florida with lots of lights and barely can see anything in the sky.

[@lghammer778]

Imma try the multiply by 420 trick, Is a telescope situated in an observatory on the moon going to yield significantly different results? Or would the fact that the earth would appear so much bigger in its sky cause an even more massive light shinning up into its stellar view? Possibly there's a spot on the moon that would be best suited for an observatory, bearing this in mind

[@samanthamonaghan7579]

awesome as always

[@kareemramzey8870]

Hey Neil and Chuck have you ever think about the shape of our space out side it and how would it look like?

[@ElectrikNYCfunK]

Neil will you also be posting on the new Hyprr Space?!?!?!

[@xammax127]

Looks up at the stars... love you 3000. How’s that for wholesome chuck!

[@thewatcher33]

I've always wondered why the stars even though there are many why we are not able to see more. Now I know. ❤🙌🏿

[@sumanthasaha7207]

4 days without new startalk video. Very difficult to pass the time 😎🇮🇳

[@gabesegun7966]

It is one thing to know something it is a blessing to understand it.

[@sushilover1292]

you blokes are the best

[@Jager-er4vc]

You guys are just awesome!

[@dulalghosh9968]

Please make a video on how you guys calculate the distance between stars, thanks.

[@carultch]

The distance to stars is determined by parallax. We observe a star's position, and then we observe it 6 months later. The difference in its angular position is a proxy for how far away it is, given the known size of the Earth's orbit.

[@thomasalias8492]

I tried the 9 fists trick and it worked. 🤯

[@marcoottina654]

4:30 i hoped that Chuck have said: "Moonlight have steal the shine of all stars" ... XD

[@rusnikfromtranscarpathia]

What I learned in Astronomy Class (BITD), there are about 300,000 stars in 1° of Eliptical Plane...is that correct? (That's Not Counting Them, just in location)

[@CBall97CEP]

I was thinking the exact same joke when you asked that from the farside comics... there really must be hundreds of em

[@ralphfurley404]

Love these guys,,,,

[@angryyoungman66]

I was just looking at nightsky , and it was incredible and amazing I saw too many stars that I started feeling lost , some stars look very close to each other the distance between them from my perspective is less then the size of the tip of my finger , yet in reality this distance could be life of generations travelling from a star to another , its an amazing experience to stare at the stars for sometime even emotionally its healthy , you pick one and stare at it and wonder what's happening there and if there is some there looking back at our solar system

[@GiantLimes]

Well that is neat, I just noticed that the background moves.

[@thesteelshadow4570]

Thanks for uploading , these are both fun and informative videos to watch ! I wish you could provide more information about the moon , I really love Lady Luna !

[@jaxxonad619]

speaking of the moon, Something quite strange happened over here in Kuala Lumpur couple of day ago. it was a full moon that night but somehow, there was a shadow over one side like in the the gibbous phase, but the shadow was very transparent. the moon was still fully lit, but you could see a clear demarcation line between the full intensity moonlight and the slightly dimmer side... what could it have been?...